The slamming door set off a round of barking, filling the house with the comforting cacophony of dog and human voices.
"Kiba!" He rushed through the house but wasn't quite fast enough to escape his mother as she grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Careful, you brat! We've got a guest!"
"Huh? Who would wanna come—gah! Hanako-chan!?"
The guest in question raised a hand to cover her unmasked smile. The Inuzuka clan compound was always bustling with life, the people much more open with their emotions than most clan shinobi. Over the years, Hanako had often run away to the Inuzuka kennels whenever pretending to be a child had become too much. Dogs didn't care if you acted your age. Dogs just wanted to be pet and play silly games.
Well, dogs that weren't magical summons from another dimension, anyway.
Maybe that was why none of her summons got along with the Inuzuka ninken. Were they jealous?
"Hey, Kiba-kun," she said happily. "Long time no see."
She watched as he stammered in place, Akamaru happily abandoning him to lounge in her lap. The poor kid suffered from a terrible condition known colloquially as 'the childhood crush'. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't flattering, but he was more than a little overbearing at times.
"Ah, Hanako-chan!" He yelled, tripping over his feet as he scrambled over to where she sat at his kitchen table. "I-I-I didn't know you were coming!"
Like that. Kiba was a competent ninja, she knew that, but all his skills went out the window the moment he noticed her. Kinda like Hinata with Naruto, now that she thought about it. Huh.
His face was as red as his tattoos as he looked at everything but her face, hands tugging roughly at the fur lined hood of his jacket. Behind him, his mother smirked knowingly at them. Ugh.
Hanako felt her lips curling of their own accord and she rushed to school her expression before Kiba noticed. It wasn't his fault all the adults shipped them.
And it wasn't as if they were without reason.
Hanako had long ago resolved to be the best heir clan Hatake had ever seen and bring the clan out of disgrace, to repay Kakashi for his generosity if nothing else. In her mind, that meant reaching rank tokubetsu-jounin or higher, participating in the clan council, and, least appetizing, producing the next generation. As a female heir, she faced the same struggles as Ino and Hinata in finding a husband whose rank wouldn't challenge or overtake her own. Of course, Ino eventually solved that problem by marrying Sai—a man with no clan—and Hinata abdicated her position to her sister, Hanabi. Hanako's situation was much more precarious as there was no future for her to refer to. Kakashi's mother and Tsume's had been cousins, the daughters of sisters—primas hermanas, as Bethany would have called them—and the two clans were ancestral allies with intermarriages predating Konoha's founding. Kiba was a second child, and a son in a matriarchal clan. As much as Hanako hated to admit it, he really was the best choice for her.
Looking at his blushing face, she had a feeling he knew it, too.
Not that she had anything against Kiba. Sure, he was a little loud and rough around the edges, but he was an Inuzuka, and a teenage boy, besides. She could vaguely remember his older self from the anime, so she knew he'd mellow out at least a little, and hanging out with Shino and Hinata had already made some marked improvements in his disposition. Eventually, he'd probably be quite the catch.
Eventually.
Eugh. She felt like a pedophile for even considering it.
"I heard Aoi finally had her puppies," she said with a smile. "I thought I'd stop by and congratulate her before things get busy."
He nodded excitedly, blush already fading—though not entirely—as the surprise of her presence waned. "Yeah! She'll like that! Come on, I'll go with you!"
Hanako hopped off the tall chair, Akamaru cradled in her arms, and followed behind the taller boy as he threw off his jacket. He looked much smaller without it, but he was still much larger than Hanako. He'd hit his growth spurt first out of the boys in his class, and he was already filling out.
Ack! No, Hanako, do not ogle the child! Do not!
Sometimes she wondered if her mind had regressed to match her body. That would be horrifying.
The kennels were loud and smelled like dog, but that was fine. It was why she came, after all. Kiba lead the way into a secluded part of the kennel and Hanako smiled at the sight of Aoi and her puppies. The new mother was a large breed similar to a Malamute or Husky, but different. Larger. Her curly tail wagged eagerly as she recognized the humans stepping into her birthing den, the mewling of her pups growing in volume as they reacted to their mother's excitement. Hanako knelt on the ground near the squirming pile of dogs, but not too close, and waited for them to come to her.
"So," Kiba began, patting Akamaru's head as he sat cross legged beside her. "What's wrong?"
"Does something need to be?"
His face twisted. "Well, no. I know you come here all the time, just 'cause, but the only time you dress all cute is—!" He cut himself off, face flushing hotly.
Well. He was surprisingly astute.
It was true. Hanako had a habit of dressing up whenever she felt down. It was hard to be sad when her reflection made her smile, after all. She looked down at her outfit. A pale green kimono style top tucked into a darker green floor length skirt with embroidered hems and pink ribbons, it was modeled after her memories of Chinese historical dramas and wuxia novels. She'd even gone through the trouble of styling her hair, pulling half of it up into a pair of buns.
Yeah, ok, he had a point. She really had gone the extra mile, today.
She smiled, reflexively raising a hand to cover her mouth. "Thanks, Kiba-kun. I appreciate it. I'm just," she sighed, reaching out to offer her hand to a puppy to smell. "Well, I'm just confused, I guess. You know how I was in the hospital for a bit after the preliminaries?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's what I want to know. I have no idea why I was there, and every time I ask, they say I should ask my dad, but he won't tell me either." She huffed angrily even as the puppy gnawing on her fingers lifted her spirits. "It's really annoying, since he took off with Sasuke to train for the finals but told me to lay low and stay in the house."
Kiba was quiet, hands occupied playing with his own set of puppies. Then,
"It isn't because of your Sharingan?"
Hah?
She turned to look at him, agog, and he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or anything, I just kind of heard it when Sasuke was talking to Neji—."
"Wait, wait, wait," Hanako placed a hand on Kiba's arm to stop his rambling. "Start from the beginning. Please."
His sharp gaze lingered on her hand before he cleared his throat and continued. "L-like I said, I wasn't trying to listen in, I just happened to be in range. It was last week, while you were still in the hospital, and Akamaru and I saw Sasuke at training ground eight. I thought I'd say hi and ask if we could visit you, yet, so I headed over to him, but he was already talking to Neji. It looked like they might start fighting, so I figured I'd just ask later, but I still caught some of their conversation." He looked a little uncertain but continued after a quick glance at her face. "Sasuke was telling Neji to keep quiet about your Sharingan, since it was another clan's business and might make you a target for foreign ninja while he and your dad are out of town. I got out of there before I could hear anything else, since I kind of figured you would have told me about it yourself if you wanted me to know."
Holy shit. A Sharingan. What kind of Mary Sue bullshit was this?
"I-I'm sorry, Kiba, I didn't know, either." She looked at him imploringly. "I swear, I wasn't trying to keep secrets." Boy, was that the lie of the century.
Kiba looked away, blush once again rising in his cheeks. "Yeah, I see that now. Though, I don't get why your dad wouldn't tell you about it. It seems kind of important, what with the finals and all."
Yeah. She agreed. Not only that, but with a Sharingan, she could...
No, she'd think about that later. Right now, Kiba deserved a little praise.
She turned to smile at him, only to freeze when he caught her hand on its way up to cover her mouth.
"You know," he said hesitantly, eyes looking at everything but her. "You don't need to do that. There's nothing wrong with your smile, Hanako-chan. It-it's cute."
Hanako stared, wide eyed, at the blushing teenager, his own pointed teeth on display as he grinned nervously down at her.
"Yeah," she said, smiling earnestly. "Thanks, Kiba-kun."